[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3109 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3109

  To require the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 
Services and the Commissioner of Social Security to review and simplify 
    the processes, procedures, forms, and communications for family 
   caregivers to assist individuals in establishing eligibility for, 
enrolling in, and maintaining and utilizing coverage and benefits under 
      the Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and Social Security programs 
                 respectively, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 24, 2023

  Mr. Markey (for himself, Mrs. Capito, Ms. Sinema, Ms. Collins, Mr. 
 Casey, and Mr. Tillis) introduced the following bill; which was read 
             twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 
Services and the Commissioner of Social Security to review and simplify 
    the processes, procedures, forms, and communications for family 
   caregivers to assist individuals in establishing eligibility for, 
enrolling in, and maintaining and utilizing coverage and benefits under 
      the Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and Social Security programs 
                 respectively, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Alleviating Barriers for Caregivers 
Act'' or the ``ABC Act''.

SEC. 2. REVIEW OF MEDICARE, MEDICAID, CHIP, AND SOCIAL SECURITY TO 
              SIMPLIFY PROCESSES. PROCEDURES, FORMS, AND 
              COMMUNICATIONS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
            (2) CHIP.--The term ``CHIP'' means the Children's Health 
        Insurance Program established under title XXI of the Social 
        Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.).
            (3) Commissioner.--The term ``Commissioner'' means the 
        Commissioner of Social Security.
            (4) Covered agencies.--The term ``covered agencies'' means 
        the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Social 
        Security Administration.
            (5) Covered officials.--The term ``covered officials'' 
        means the Administrator and Commissioner.
            (6) Covered programs.--The term ``covered programs'' means 
        Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and the Social Security programs.
            (7) Disability.--The term ``disability'' has the meaning 
        given such term in section 3 of the Americans with Disabilities 
        Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102).
            (8) Family caregiver.--The term ``family caregiver'' has 
        the meaning given the term in section 2 of the RAISE Family 
        Caregivers Act (42 U.S.C. 3030s note).
            (9) Medicaid.--The term ``Medicaid'' means the Medicaid 
        program established under title XIX of the Social Security Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.).
            (10) Medicare.--The term ``Medicare'' means the Medicare 
        program established under title XVIII of the Social Security 
        Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.).
            (11) State.--The term ``State'' means any of the 50 States, 
        the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
        United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, or the 
        Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
            (12) Social security programs.--The term ``Social Security 
        programs'' means each of the following:
                    (A) The programs for old-age and survivors 
                insurance benefits and disability insurance benefits 
                established under title II of the Social Security Act 
                (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.).
                    (B) The program for supplemental security income 
                benefits established under title XVI of such Act (42 
                U.S.C. 1381 et seq.).
    (b) Review of Programs.--
            (1) In general.--The Administrator and the Commissioner 
        shall jointly conduct a review of the eligibility determination 
        and application processes, procedures, forms, and 
        communications of Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and the Social 
        Security programs, respectively.
            (2) Goals of the review.--In conducting the reviews under 
        paragraph (1), the covered officials shall seek ways to--
                    (A) simplify and streamline policies and procedures 
                for determining eligibility for, enrolling in, 
                maintaining coverage in, and utilizing the full 
                benefits available under the covered programs;
                    (B) reduce the frequency of family caregivers 
                having to--
                            (i) provide the same information to covered 
                        agencies more than once;
                            (ii) complete--
                                    (I) multiple documents for each 
                                covered agency; or
                                    (II) documents requesting the same 
                                or similar information for multiple 
                                covered agencies; or
                            (iii) provide information to the covered 
                        agencies that--
                                    (I) the covered agencies already 
                                have; or
                                    (II) the covered agencies can 
                                easily receive from other Federal 
                                agencies; and
                    (C) make it easier for family caregivers to work 
                with the covered agencies and the State agencies 
                responsible for administering State Medicaid and CHIP 
                plans by--
                            (i) providing information on eligibility 
                        for, enrollment in, maintaining coverage in, 
                        and utilizing the full benefits available under 
                        the covered programs to family caregivers;
                            (ii) improving communications between 
                        family caregivers and employees of covered 
                        agencies by--
                                    (I) decreasing call wait times;
                                    (II) ensuring that employees of 
                                covered agencies and the State agencies 
                                responsible for administering State 
                                Medicaid and CHIP plans provide timely 
                                answers to the questions of family 
                                caregivers;
                                    (III) improving the websites of the 
                                covered programs--
                                            (aa) by making it easier 
                                        for family caregivers to find 
                                        information regarding benefit 
                                        availability, eligibility, and 
                                        how to maintain coverage; and
                                            (bb) by designing such 
                                        websites to align with the 
                                        requirements of the Americans 
                                        with Disabilities Act (42 
                                        U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) regarding 
                                        web design;
                                    (IV) improving the timely access to 
                                in-person appointments or meetings 
                                between employees of covered agencies 
                                and family caregivers;
                                    (V) providing translation or 
                                interpretation services for family 
                                caregivers for whom English is not 
                                their primary language; and
                                    (VI) providing information to 
                                family caregivers in accessible 
                                formats, including formats compatible 
                                with American Sign Language and 
                                multiple languages;
                            (iii) ensuring that employees of covered 
                        agencies and the State agencies responsible for 
                        administering State Medicaid and CHIP plans 
                        understand how the covered programs can help 
                        family caregivers;
                            (iv) improving the relationship between 
                        family caregivers and the covered agencies and 
                        the State agencies responsible for 
                        administering State Medicaid and CHIP plans, 
                        which may include regularly meeting with family 
                        caregivers, individuals entitled to, receiving 
                        services from, or filing for, 1 or more of the 
                        covered programs, and other stakeholders of the 
                        covered programs;
                            (v) ensuring that employees of covered 
                        agencies and the State agencies responsible for 
                        administering State Medicaid and CHIP plans who 
                        are responsible for resolving disputes, 
                        appeals, and grievances within the covered 
                        programs receive education, training, and 
                        guidance on specific issues faced by family 
                        caregivers who participate in the covered 
                        programs; and
                            (vi) taking other actions the covered 
                        officials may identify.
            (3) Input from family caregivers, organizations, and state 
        entities.--In conducting the reviews under paragraph (1), the 
        covered officials shall seek input from--
                    (A) family caregivers, including family caregivers 
                with a disability, that have interacted with the 
                covered programs;
                    (B) State, regional, national, and Tribal 
                organizations representing or working with family 
                caregivers or individuals receiving care from family 
                caregivers; and
                    (C) State Medicaid and CHIP programs.
    (c) Action.--After the reviews under subsection (b) have been 
completed, the covered officials shall take actions that will simplify 
and streamline policies and procedures that improve customer service 
for individuals entitled to, receiving services from, or filing for, 
any of the covered programs, and family caregivers.
    (d) Report to Congress.--
            (1) In general.--No later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the covered officials shall each submit 
        a report to the Committee on Finance of the Senate, the 
        Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, 
        and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
        Representatives that details the results of the respective 
        reviews each covered official conducted under subsection (b).
            (2) Contents of the report.--The reports required under 
        paragraph (1) shall contain--
                    (A) issues that the covered officials identified in 
                the reviews and their findings;
                    (B) the actions that the covered officials are 
                taking to address the issues in subparagraph (A);
                    (C) an estimate on when the actions in subparagraph 
                (B) will be completed;
                    (D) projected annual costs to implement the actions 
                identified in subparagraph (B); and
                    (E) any recommended change in Federal law to 
                address any issue identified in subparagraph (A).
            (3) Updated reports.--The covered officials shall each 
        submit a report 1 year after submitting the report required 
        under paragraph (1) providing an update to the contents 
        identified in paragraph (2).
            (4) Publication of the reports.--The covered officials 
        shall make the reports required under paragraphs (1) and (3) 
        publicly accessible on the websites of covered agencies.
    (e) Reducing Red Tape for State Medicaid and CHIP Programs.--Not 
later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Administrator shall issue a letter to each State Medicaid and CHIP 
Director to--
            (1) encourage State Medicaid agencies to conduct reviews of 
        State Medicaid programs and State CHIP programs similar to the 
        reviews conducted at the Federal level under subsection (b);
            (2) provide suggestions, informed by the results of such 
        Federal reviews, for promising practices that States could take 
        to reduce administrative burdens on family caregivers in 
        supporting individuals entitled to, receiving service from, or 
        filing for, 1 or more of the covered programs in applying for 
        and receiving assistance under State Medicaid programs and 
        State CHIP programs; and
            (3) identify best practices to support family caregivers.
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